Growth curves for Turkish Girls with Turner Syndrome Results of the Turkish Turner Syndrome Study Group

Abstract

Turner syndrome (TS) is a common chromosomal disorder occurring in 1:2500 female live births. The most common presenting symptom in girls with TS is short stature which is mild during early childhood but becomes more notable with age. Untreated females are reported to be approximately 18-20 cm shorter than the general population (1,2,3,4). Growth curves are widely used in pediatric practice and are very important tools for the evaluation of child health (5,6,7,8,9). The curves proposed by international health organizations, such as the World Health Organization (10) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (11), provide growth evaluation in children belonging to different ethnicities and socio-economic conditions. However, children with specific diseases (including TS) and having a specific growth pattern cannot be well assessed with the curves designed for healthy children. Thus, disease-specific growth charts are required for better evaluation of growth and response to growth-promoting therapies in certain diseases.